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Inhoi Hur had a putt to win the tournament. He wasn't even involved in the sudden-death playoff a few moments later after a day-long rules kerfuffle that began in the third round of the Asian Tour's Maekyung Open in Korea.
Following a fourth-round charge up the leaderboard, the Korean Hur had a birdie putt to win Sunday, or so he thought. Ultimately, Hur was penalized for a chaotic incident that happened Saturday on the seventh hole in which a drive that was possibly out of bounds and the ensuing penalty were basically ignored on the scorecard.
After hitting a tee shot Saturday that he believed to be out of bounds then hitting a provisional tee shot, a forecaddie picked up Hur's first ball. Fans of Hur argued that the first ball was in bounds, and rules officials told Hur to play his provisional while the mess was sorted out. Hur instead should have been instructed to replace the ball for his first tee shot after it was picked up. With the on-course officials' sanction, he continued to play the provisional – which isn't how the rules governing provisional balls should have been applied – and he signed for a par on the hole as if the first tee shot and ensuing penalty for a ball out of bounds had never happened.
Tournament officials changed their minds Sunday, and he was notified that his third-round score was being altered to include the first tee shot and the ensuing one-shot penalty for being out of bounds.
As Flushing It and Asian news organizations reported Sunday morning, it's a wild story that involves Hur's wife defending him on social media, a 30-minute backup that held up play in the third round and a penalty assessed more than 24 hours after signing his third-round scorecard.
"The forecaddie/spotter then picked up the original ball because it was judged OB, and handed it to his playing partner’s caddie," Flushing It posted on social media. "But the gallery, who were all there in support of Inhoi, argued that the ball was in bounds and a referee had to be called. One eyewitness said it was 'very animated,' and several rules officials then had to come to the scene to help calm the situation.
"After around 30 minutes of heated discussion and the group behind being called through, the Chief Referee judged there was conflicting information and applied Committee Procedures Section 6C(6), which somehow meant Inhui played the provisional ball temporarily without penalty until a decision was made. But what should have happened, is the original ball should have been replaced and a decision made from there. Inhui finished the hole with his provisional ball and signed for a par and a 3rd round 69 to be just outside the top 10."
Other players were furious, saying he essentially got a mulligan. One unnamed player said he should be disqualified. That didn't happen. On Sunday he shot 7-under 64 and finished at 11 under for the tournament, which would've put him into a three-way playoff with Minhyuk Song and Mingyu Cho.
Flushing It's report continues: "As Inhui was signing autographs for his large group of supporters thinking he would shortly be making his way back down the 18th with a chance to win the event for the second time, the KGA rules team deemed his ball was OB the previous day and added the 2 shot penalty meaning his score on Saturday was altered to a 71. That knocked him down to T3 and he missed out on the playoff by 2 shots. There was then another altercation between Inhui’s support and the officials.
"Inhui’s wife has since posted on Instagram questioning the officials and asking for video evidence of the situation. One message translated from Korean reads: 'I won’t accept it. Are they just brushing over the fact the competition official lied?'"
Monday Q Info's Ryan French reported Sunday that multiple people in Hur’s group directed racial slurs at Micah Shin’s caddie, Nick, during the kerfuffle in the third round. Shin was one of Hur's playing partners Saturday, and he said he did not hear any slurs.
One group was allowed to pay through during the rules discussion, but others were backed up on the tee while conversations were ongoing for half an hour. Eventually, Hur played his provisional ball, without counting the original tee shot or the penalty stroke being applied, a ruling that was eventually changed Sunday.
On Monday morning, French reported Shin and his caddie met with Asian Tour and KPGA rules officials Sunday morning for so long he had only 30 minutes to warm up before the final round.
When Hur came out of scoring after the penalty was announced, security had to step in when Hur's followers started going after tournament officials and other players.
Song won the tournament on the first playoff hole. Hur finished T-3 after the penalty.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Controversial Asian Tour ruling results in penalty 24 hours later
Continue reading...
Following a fourth-round charge up the leaderboard, the Korean Hur had a birdie putt to win Sunday, or so he thought. Ultimately, Hur was penalized for a chaotic incident that happened Saturday on the seventh hole in which a drive that was possibly out of bounds and the ensuing penalty were basically ignored on the scorecard.
After hitting a tee shot Saturday that he believed to be out of bounds then hitting a provisional tee shot, a forecaddie picked up Hur's first ball. Fans of Hur argued that the first ball was in bounds, and rules officials told Hur to play his provisional while the mess was sorted out. Hur instead should have been instructed to replace the ball for his first tee shot after it was picked up. With the on-course officials' sanction, he continued to play the provisional – which isn't how the rules governing provisional balls should have been applied – and he signed for a par on the hole as if the first tee shot and ensuing penalty for a ball out of bounds had never happened.
Tournament officials changed their minds Sunday, and he was notified that his third-round score was being altered to include the first tee shot and the ensuing one-shot penalty for being out of bounds.
As Flushing It and Asian news organizations reported Sunday morning, it's a wild story that involves Hur's wife defending him on social media, a 30-minute backup that held up play in the third round and a penalty assessed more than 24 hours after signing his third-round scorecard.
"The forecaddie/spotter then picked up the original ball because it was judged OB, and handed it to his playing partner’s caddie," Flushing It posted on social media. "But the gallery, who were all there in support of Inhoi, argued that the ball was in bounds and a referee had to be called. One eyewitness said it was 'very animated,' and several rules officials then had to come to the scene to help calm the situation.
"After around 30 minutes of heated discussion and the group behind being called through, the Chief Referee judged there was conflicting information and applied Committee Procedures Section 6C(6), which somehow meant Inhui played the provisional ball temporarily without penalty until a decision was made. But what should have happened, is the original ball should have been replaced and a decision made from there. Inhui finished the hole with his provisional ball and signed for a par and a 3rd round 69 to be just outside the top 10."
Other players were furious, saying he essentially got a mulligan. One unnamed player said he should be disqualified. That didn't happen. On Sunday he shot 7-under 64 and finished at 11 under for the tournament, which would've put him into a three-way playoff with Minhyuk Song and Mingyu Cho.
Flushing It's report continues: "As Inhui was signing autographs for his large group of supporters thinking he would shortly be making his way back down the 18th with a chance to win the event for the second time, the KGA rules team deemed his ball was OB the previous day and added the 2 shot penalty meaning his score on Saturday was altered to a 71. That knocked him down to T3 and he missed out on the playoff by 2 shots. There was then another altercation between Inhui’s support and the officials.
"Inhui’s wife has since posted on Instagram questioning the officials and asking for video evidence of the situation. One message translated from Korean reads: 'I won’t accept it. Are they just brushing over the fact the competition official lied?'"
Monday Q Info's Ryan French reported Sunday that multiple people in Hur’s group directed racial slurs at Micah Shin’s caddie, Nick, during the kerfuffle in the third round. Shin was one of Hur's playing partners Saturday, and he said he did not hear any slurs.
One group was allowed to pay through during the rules discussion, but others were backed up on the tee while conversations were ongoing for half an hour. Eventually, Hur played his provisional ball, without counting the original tee shot or the penalty stroke being applied, a ruling that was eventually changed Sunday.
On Monday morning, French reported Shin and his caddie met with Asian Tour and KPGA rules officials Sunday morning for so long he had only 30 minutes to warm up before the final round.
When Hur came out of scoring after the penalty was announced, security had to step in when Hur's followers started going after tournament officials and other players.
Song won the tournament on the first playoff hole. Hur finished T-3 after the penalty.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Controversial Asian Tour ruling results in penalty 24 hours later
Continue reading...
